Author Spotlight: Renee Young

This week,we're featuring interviews with some of theUPSTAGED! authors. Today, we have Renee Young. Her story, "The Helsinki Incident," is best described as atmospheric, sensual science fiction. I don't know about you, but I could do with reading more in that realm.

What inspired you to write your latest story?

A writer friend of mine was sharing an experience from her past where she had a deep personal insight while attending a work meeting in Helsinki and I jokingly called it her Helsinki Incident. Not much later, I thought that would make a good title for a story. Hopefully my story lives up to the title, I had a lot of fun writing it.

Are there any common themes you see in your work?

Identity, finding one's place, remembering who you are, finding a purpose. Those themes repeatedly show up in my own life so it's natural that they pop up in my writing.

Have you ever been to a writing conference? If so, how was it? If not, is there one you want to attend?

I have! In fact, I just got back from the GCLS conference in Las Vegas and had a great time. The conference was educational, I came away with some new tools to try for character development, and super supportive - I did my first ever reading at 8 am in the morning and the room was packed. I'm already looking forward to next year in Pittsburgh.

What’s your favorite ice cream?

A local ice creamery has a flavor called El Diablo: chocolate with cinnamon and cayenne pepper - delish!

What’s your wake-up routine?

4:45 am - ignore cat making demands for breakfast

5:20 - 5:30 am - admit defeat and feed cat

5:45 - 6:30 am - read in bed to fully wake up

What’s your favorite season?

Spring - I like seeing everything come back to life after winter.

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About Renee Young:

Renee Young wants to live in a world where swashbuckling and spacefaring women loving women are featured in more books than she could possibly ever read. When not writing, you can find her in the greater Boston area reading, writing code, and searching for the perfect veggie pad thai. Renee is a 2018 graduate of the Golden Crown Literary Society Writing Academy.Connect with her on Twitter at @RYoung_Author